The varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family.
The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, but may be even more varied. There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin (about 960 million), followed by Wu (80 million), Yue (60 million) and Min (70 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility. All varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic.

Sinitic languages

The Sinitic languages, are a family of Sino-Tibetan languages, often synonymous with the group of Chinese varieties. They have frequently been postulated to constitute a primary branch, but this is rejected by an increasing number of researchers. The Bai languages and possible relatives, whose classification is difficult, may also be Sinitic; otherwise Sinitic is equivalent to Chinese, and the term may be used to indicate that the varieties of Chinese are distinct languages rather than dialects of a single language.

References

Works cited

van Driem, George (2001), Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region, Brill, ISBN90-04-10390-2

Plot: Peter will go to any "length" to keep his fiancé Amy. Amy is growing disenchanted with Peter's lack of ambition and the lack of physical closeness in their relationship. But Peter has a problem, a problem he can't share with Amy and when a trip to a Chinese Herbalist offers him a too expensive solution Peter turns to a group of third rate gangsters for help. Can sometimes doing the wrong thing, be right? Can Peter keep Amy? All will be answered in the comedy "Keeping Amy."

Plot: Ten vignettes in New York City: a pickpocket meets his match; a young Hasidic woman, on the eve of her marriage, reveals herself to an Indian businessman; a writer tries a pick-up line; an artist seeks a model; a composer needs to read; two women connect; a man takes a child to Central Park; lovers meet; a couple takes a walk on their anniversary; a kid goes to the prom with a girl in a wheelchair; a retired singer contemplates suicide. There are eight million stories in the naked city: these have been ten of them.

Quotes:

Camille: Hey, David, it's Camille. You know, when Dostoevsky was writing The Gambler, he signed a contract with his publisher saying that he would finish it in twenty-six days, and he did it, but he had the help of this young stenographer. This girl, she... she stayed with him and she helped him. And... afterwards they actually got married. Ha, isn't that cool? That's how he met his wife. Anyway I found this story in the preface for Crime and Punishment so I was thinking that... and, this would have to be between you and me, but... I was thinking that I could read the books and tell you what's going on and that way you could just focus on your music. But only if you're comfortable with this, and if you're not then you can just forget it, and you can quit, but if you are... then open this door.::David: Open... this door? [crawls to his front door and opens it]::Camille: Okay, a deal's a deal.::David: Does this mean we're getting married?::Camille: I have a lot of reading to do...::Camille: Hi, I'm Camille.::David: Hi, I'm David.

Writer: [after lighting her cigarette] We share a flame, thousands of tiny molecules are heating up right now, they're penetrating our brain. Alright, they're stimulating our sexual desire. I mean, I don't know about you, but I find that shit very romantic. And you know, I'm so glad you walked over here because now I can feel a little bit more comfortable to tell you that I happen to be on the forefront of men able to find and locate a woman's G-spot, and I could - I could do that for you.::Call Girl: [Sarcastically] That's really generous of you, thank you.::Writer: Well, it's my pleasure. Well. It's your pleasure.::Call Girl: And what makes you think I haven't located it yet?::Writer: Uh, the way you hold the cigarette. It's a little high and tight. Y'know what you have to do, is you have to lower it. You have to bring it all the way down, in there, so it just sits. Comfortably. Y'know if it's high and tight like that, the whole body gets restricted and the... plexus? Gets closed off. Y'know and the vagina gets locked.

Anna: Have you ever made love to a perfect stranger?::Alex: Now you're teasing me.::Anna: I believe I am.::Alex: Well, I mean... No, not exactly a perfect stranger, if you mean someone I wouldn't know at all.::Anna: It's sad.::Alex: It's sad? Why?::Anna: Because there's almost nothing more exciting than fucking somebody you don't know. Right? You don't know their name, barely saw their face.::Alex: Don't... Don't tell me your name.

Plot: When saloon prostitute Cody Zamora rescues her friend Anita from an abusive customer by killing him, she is sentenced to hang. However, Anita and their two friends Eileen and Lilly rescue Cody and the four make a run for Texas, pursued by Graves and O'Brady, two Pinkerton detectives hired to track them. When Cody withdraws her savings from a Texas bank, the women believe they can now start a new life in Oregon. But Cody's old partner Kid Jarrett takes Cody's money when his gang robs the bank, and so the four so-called "Honky- Tonk Harlots" set out to recover the money, with the Pinkertons hot on their trail.

Keywords: 1880s, 19th-century, acoustic-guitar, ambush, arm-sling, arrest, bank-robber, bank-robbery, bar, bar-fightGenres: Western,
Taglines: It was a dangerous time to be a woman. And a good time to have friends.

Quotes:

[about French]::Eileen: It's the language of love.::Tucker: I didn't know the language of love had words, ma'am.::Eileen: Oh my, yes. I could teach you.

Anita: The population of the United States is over 63 million people now.::Lilly: They sure ain't here.

Lilly: Sawmill?::Anita: We sold our bodies, why couldn't we sell some wood?

Preacher: Every tree is known by its fruit. This woman has brought forth bad fruit.

Covered Wagon Driver: Sorry, son, the only female I seen in the last month is that mare over there. And she's starting to look pretty good to me, how about to you?

Plot: Jason, a Los Angeles taxi driver whom also works as a collector and numbers runner for a local mobster, crosses paths with young woman and vigilante, named Christine, seeking to avenge the murder of her husband and son by a quartet of hoodlums and gets caught up in the crime underworld of the city.

Keywords: auto-mechanic, blood, bloody-body-of-child, bounty-hunter, brutality, buddy, child-murder, city, death, death-of-friendGenres: Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller,
Taglines: All hell broke loose when they stopped... This Cabby Ain't Askin' For No Tips. They drove him to the edge, and on the edge there are no rules.

It has a diverse Chinese population, along with Koreans, Taiwanese, Malaysians, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese. Around every corner and in every niche are different Asian traditions and customs to experience, including Chineseherbalists, table tennis clubs, Asian art galleries, Japanese comic-book stores, bubble-milk tea cafes, dim sum restaurants and Asian mega-markets....

Abernathy, an acupuncturist and herbalist, is the founder and co-owner of Blue Heron Acupuncture & Apothecary, a ClassicalChineseMedicineClinic providing personalized, holistic and effective care for the Lowcountry... Gua sha and facial cupping are gentle and easy to use Chinese medicine based techniques that increase circulation to skin, ......

NEW YORK, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Traditional ChineseMedicine (TCM) has traveled a difficult road toward legitimacy and integration in the United States, reflective of many aspects of the Chinese immigrant experience. This is why the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York City puts on two groundbreaking exhibitions, which run from April 26 to Sept. 9, attempting to trace the complex story of Chinese medicine in the country....

OPINION — I think it’s time we gave our citizen soldiers some time off. These young men and women have had a rather active couple of decades ... You see, there is no wall, yet ...George W ...Besides being a hard-fighting game fish, and a tasty one at that, the totoaba also is valued by Chineseherbalists who claim the bladder of the fish has special restorative properties as an aphrodisiac fetching prices of approximately $60,000 per kilo ... U.S....

(NaturalNews) There are many studies that explore the ins and outs of the female reproductive system, and the natural remedies used traditionally against its related health issues. In contrast, male reproductive issues have not been explored as extensively. Herbalist and ethnobotanist David Winston, whose training spanned 32 years in Cherokee, Chinese, and Western herbal... ....

Thanks to Michael Phelps, just about everybody knows about cupping ... The Chinese procedure has been around for centuries, tracing its roots to Taoist alchemist and herbalistGe Hong, who first discovered the practice around 300A.D ... This is called cupping ... ....

An ancient healing practice, Chinese medicine has long been gaining popularity in the Western wellness world as an alternative to traditional methods ... The high street is flooded with specialist shops claiming to be experts in Chinese medicine, but do your research first, as it takes five years of very specific training to be a qualified herbalist....

... night together and a baby might be on the way for the happy couple!" It's definitely possible -- just earlier this month, we heard that Gwen has started using alternative medicine to help her conceive! She's allegedly been getting acupuncture, and she's also said to be visiting with a Chineseherbalist with the goal of increasing her fertility....

You know what they say ...It's honestly a little overwhelming ... Gwen is 47 years old ... "She's been getting acupuncture and working with a Chineseherbalist to increase her fertility." ... And on top of the hypnosis, acupuncture, and trips to the Chineseherbalist, "All of Gwen's friends are supporting her on this journey, they'll send her articles about other women that have gotten pregnant at her age to encourage her." ... ViewSlideshow....